Erling Haaland wins PFA Player of the Year award

August 30, 2023 | 7:02 pm

LONDON — Manchester City striker Erling Haaland was named the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Player of the Year on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old was voted ahead of team mates Kevin de Bruyne and John Stones, as well as Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and former Tottenham player Harry Kane, who is now with Bayern Munich.

Mr. Haaland’s remarkable performance saw him netting 52 goals in 53 matches across all competitions last season, contributing to City’s triple victory as they clinched the Premier League, FA Cup, and the Champions League titles.

The Norway international also achieved recognition in May, being awarded the titles of Premier League’s Player of the Season and Football Writers’ Association’s Men’s Player of the Year.

Mr. Saka was named the PFA Young Player of the Year for the first time after receiving a nomination for the fourth season in a row.

Aston Villa striker Rachel Daly secured the PFA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year award after finishing as the top scorer in the Women’s Super League with 22 goals.

Chelsea’s Lauren James was named as the Young Player of the Year. — Reuters

Fulham beat Tottenham Hotspur, 5-3, on penalties in League Cup; Leeds United knocked out

August 30, 2023 | 7:02 pm

LONDON — Fulham beat Tottenham Hotspur 5-3 on penalties to reach the third round of the League Cup after they drew 1-1 at Craven Cottage on Tuesday, while second tier Leeds United also suffered shootout misery as they were dumped out by Salford City.

Tottenham defender Davinson Sanchez failed to find the net with their third penalty as Fulham keeper Marek Rodak saved low to his left, before Fulham’s Joao Palhinha and Kenny Tete both scored to complete the victory.

In the pouring rain, Fulham took the lead in the 19^th minute of the London derby through an own goal from Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven from close range.

Four-times winners Tottenham did not manage a shot on target in the first half and the hosts could have led by two goals at halftime, but Spurs keeper Fraser Forster made a superb save to deny a Rodrigo Muniz header just before the break.

Ange Postecoglou’s side drew level in the 56^th minute when Richarlison connected with a lofted pass by Ivan Perisic to nod home from a tight angle.

Fulham, however, went close to sealing the win in regular time when Harry Wilson ran onto a loose pass inside the box but Forster’s save kept Spurs in the contest.

League Two Salford City beat Leeds United 9-8 on penalties also after a 1-1 draw. Both sides missed a penalty in their first five before Leeds’ Jamie Shackleton hit the bar, leaving Ossama Ashley to secure victory for Salford.

Second-tier Plymouth Argyle looked on course to cause another upset when they led 2-0 against Crystal Palace, but Roy Hodgson’s side fought back to win 4-2.

Bournemouth came from a goal down to win 3-2 at second-tier Swansea City, earning boss Andoni Iraola a first win in charge. — Reuters

Ben Simmons wants to play for Australia at Paris Olympics

August 30, 2023 | 7:02 pm

SYDNEY — All Star forward Ben Simmons says he wants to play for Australia at the Paris Olympics next year, ending a decade-long absence from the Boomers team.

The 27-year-old has been plagued by injuries in recent years but said he was confident he would be back on court for the Brooklyn Nets in the next NBA season and fit for the Olympics.

“Olympics? Yeah, 100%,” he said in an interview with the Andscape website.

“To me, I’m going to play when I’m ready. There hasn’t really been a time where I’ve been prepared and ready physically.

“But next year, my goal is to be on the Olympic team.”

Melbourne-born Mr. Simmons said he had not yet informed Basketball Australia of his intentions and fans Down Under might be forgiven for not getting too excited.

The three-times NBA All Star has frequently committed to playing for the land of his birth at the Olympics and World Cups over the last nine years only to later withdraw. — Reuters

IMF warns climate change may worsen conflicts in fragile states

August 30, 2023 | 5:58 pm

JOHANNESBURG — Climate change is likely to worsen conflicts in fragile and war-torn states, resulting in higher death rates and greatly reduced GDP, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a report on Wednesday.

The World Bank each year revises a list of countries classed as “fragile and conflict-afflicted states,” of which there are currently 39, and 21 are in Africa. Wednesday’s report covers all 61 countries that have been on the list since 2006.

It found that climate shocks do not cause conflicts, but they worsen existing unrest and exacerbate other underlying fragilities, such as hunger and poverty.

Deaths from conflict as a share of the population could increase by close to 10% in fragile countries by 2060, the IMF said, adding that climate change could also push an additional 50 million people in fragile states into hunger by 2060.

Even though evidence of climate change is mounting after record temperatures across the world over recent months, the political will to take action has been eroded by economic weakness.

African leaders have said richer countries should provide more money to help them adapt to climate change and transition to greener energy, given that most African countries have produced a relatively tiny share of the emissions that cause global warming.

They are expected to try to reach a unified climate negotiating position at the African Climate Summit from Sept. 4-6, ahead of the COP28 UN climate summit in the United Arab Emirates starting at the end of November. — Reuters

Canada detects 1^st case of the highly mutated coronavirus variant

August 30, 2023 | 5:57 pm

OTTAWA — Canada has detected its first case of coronavirus infection from the highly mutated BA.2.86 variant of Omicron in a person in British Columbia who had not traveled outside the Pacific province, health officials said on Tuesday.

The individual is not hospitalized, and the detection of BA.2.86 virus has not changed the risk to people in British Columbia, the province’s top doctor, Bonnie Henry, and Health Minister Adrian Dix said in a joint statement.

“It was not unexpected for BA.2.86 to show up in Canada and the province,” they said. “COVID-19 continues to spread globally, and the virus continues to adapt.”

The BA.2.86 lineage, first detected in Denmark last month, carries more than 35 mutations in key portions of the virus compared with XBB.1.5, the dominant variant through most of 2023. The United States, Switzerland and Israel have also recorded cases of the new variant.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week the BA.2.86 variant may be more capable of causing infection in people who have previously had COVID-19 or who have received preventive vaccines.

Scientists have said that while it was important to monitor BA.2.86, it was unlikely to cause a devastating wave of severe disease and death given immune defenses built up worldwide from vaccination and prior infection.

Canadian health authorities have noted an uptick in COVID infections in recent weeks, though virus activity remains relatively low, Health Canada said in a weekly update earlier on Tuesday. — Reuters

Burger King must face lawsuit claiming its Whoppers are too small

August 30, 2023 | 5:57 pm

A US JUDGE has rejected Burger King’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit claiming that it cheated hungry customers by making its Whopper sandwich appear larger than it actually is.

US District Judge Roy Altman in Miami said Burger King must defend against a claim that its depiction of Whoppers on in-store menu boards mislead reasonable customers, amounting to a breach of contract.

Customers in the proposed class action accused Burger King of portraying burgers with ingredients that “overflow over the bun,” making it appear the burgers are 35% larger and contain more than double the meat than the chain serves.

Burger King, a unit of Restaurant Brands International, countered that it wasn’t required to deliver burgers that look “exactly like the picture,” but the judge said it was up to jurors to “tell us what reasonable people think.”

In his decision made public on Friday, Mr. Altman also let the customers pursue negligence-based and unjust enrichment claims.

He dismissed claims based on TV and online ads, finding none in which Burger King promised a burger “size,” or patty weight, and failed to deliver it.

“The plaintiffs’ claims are false,” Burger King said in a statement on Tuesday. “The flame-grilled beef patties portrayed in our advertising are the same patties used in the millions of Whopper sandwiches we serve to guests nationwide.”

A lawyer for the plaintiffs was not immediately available for comment. Earlier efforts to mediate a settlement proved unsuccessful.

McDonald’s and Wendy’s are defending against a similar lawsuit in the Brooklyn, New York federal court. The plaintiffs’ lawyer there on Monday cited Altman’s opinion to justify letting that case continue.

Taco Bell, a unit of Yum Brands, was sued last month in the Brooklyn court for selling Crunchwraps and Mexican pizzas that allegedly contain only half as much filling as advertised.

Each lawsuit seeks at least $5 million in damages.

The case is Coleman et al v Burger King Corp, US District Court, Southern District of Florida, No. 22-20925. — Reuters

Russia will not probe Prigozhin plane crash under international rules — Brazil agency

August 30, 2023 | 5:51 pm

SAO PAULO/MONTREAL — Russia has informed Brazil’s aircraft investigation authority that it will not probe the crash of the Brazilian-made Embraer jet that killed mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin under international rules “at the moment,” the Brazilian agency told Reuters on Tuesday.

Mr. Prigozhin, two top lieutenants of his Wagner Group and four bodyguards were among 10 people who died when the Embraer Legacy 600 crashed north of Moscow last week.

He died two months to the day after staging a brief mutiny against the Russian defense establishment that posed the biggest challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s rule since he rose to power in 1999.

Brazil’s Center for Research and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA), in the interests of improving aviation safety, had said it would join a Russian-led investigation if it were invited and the probe held under international rules.

Russia’s aviation authority was not obligated to say yes to CENIPA, but some former investigators said it should, as the US and other Western governments suspect the Kremlin of being behind the Aug. 23 crash of the Embraer Legacy 600, which has a good safety record.

The Kremlin denies any involvement. Mr. Prigozhin was publicly critical of Moscow’s prosecution of its invasion of Ukraine. The Wagner mercenaries fought battles there on Russia’s side.

According to the Montreal-based United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the flight from Moscow with a destination of St Petersburg was domestic, so it is not subject to international rules known throughout the industry by their legal name “Annex 13.”

NO OBLIGATION TO ACCEPT INTERNATIONAL RULES
“They are not obliged, only recommended to do that,” CENIPA head Air Brigadier Marcelo Moreno told Reuters after the agency sent an email last week asking Russia whether it would open such a probe.

“But if they say they’ll open the investigation and invite Brazil we will participate from afar.”

US aviation safety consultant and former investigator John Cox said an internal Russian investigation would always be questioned without the participation of Brazil, the country where the plane was manufactured.

“I think it’s very sad,” Mr. Cox said after being told of the Russian response. “I think it hurts the transparency of the Russian investigation.”

CENIPA said in an emailed statement it got the response from the Interstate Aviation Committee — Commission on Accident Investigation (IAC) on Tuesday, with the Russian authority saying it would not open for now a probe under Annex 13.

In air crash investigations, experts work to improve aviation safety without assigning blame, but probes are often tainted by political interests.

CENIPA and manufacturer Embraer want to prevent future accidents but face challenges in getting information from the investigation due to sanctions on Russia and Moscow’s reluctance to allow outside scrutiny.

Some 802 Embraer regional jets with 37 to 50 seats, built on the same platform as the Legacy 600 corporate aircraft, are in service, underscoring Brazilian interest in the probe.

Embraer declined comment.

Jeff Guzzetti, a former US air crash investigator, said Russia should accept assistance from Brazil, even if CENIPA can only participate remotely.

“If they don’t, well, then that’s a sure sign that it’s not going to be a transparent investigation.”

Drawing their name from an annex to the Convention on International Civil Aviation — commonly known as the 1944 Chicago Convention — the rules represent a low-key but effective form of international cooperation that has rarely been challenged.

By promoting unusually close technical co-operation across political frontiers and steering clear of issues of blame, Annex 13 has been credited with improving air safety dramatically since it was first introduced, safety officials said. — Reuters

Asian crops output forecast lower as El Niño strengthens

August 30, 2023 | 5:50 pm

carabao-farmer — A farmer guides his carabao on dry and cracked farmland in San Juan town, Batangas, April 18, 2010. — REUTERS

SINGAPORE — An unusually dry August has taken a toll on cereal and oilseed crops in Asia as El Niño intensified, and forecasts for lower rainfall in September are further threatening to disrupt supplies.

While wheat output forecasts are being revised lower due to dry weather in Australia, the world’s second-largest exporter, record-low monsoon rains are expected to reduce the volume of crops, including rice, in India, the world’s biggest shipper of the grain, meteorologists and analysts said.

Insufficient rains in Southeast Asia, meanwhile, could dent supplies of palm oil, the world’s most widely used vegetable oil, while extreme weather in top corn and soybean importer China is putting food output at risk.

“We are in full-blown El Niño weather in several parts of the world, and it is going to intensify towards the end of the year,” said Chris Hyde, a meteorologist at US-based Maxar Technologies, a climate data analytics platform.

“The weather pattern in Asia will correlate with dry El Niño conditions.”

El Niño is a warming of Pacific waters which typically results in drier conditions over Asia and excessive rains in parts of North and South America.

India’s monsoon rains, crucial for summer crops such as rice, sugarcane, soybeans and corn, are poised to be the weakest in eight years.

“The impact of El Niño is much greater than we had anticipated,” said a senior India Meteorological Department official. “This month is going to end with a deficit of over 30%, marking it as the driest August on record. El Niño will also affect September’s rainfall.”

India, which accounts for 40% of global rice exports, has curbed shipments, lifting prices to 15-year highs.

Australia’s wheat output estimates are being revised lower by analysts for the first time in four years as key growing areas have had insufficient rain in August.

“Wheat production is going to be three million (metric) tons lower than our initial estimate of 33 million tons,” said Ole Houe, director of advisory services at agricultural brokerage IKON Commodities. “If the dryness continues in September, we are looking at an even lower crop.”

Australia has had three straight years of bumper wheat output, boosting supplies for importers such as China, Indonesia and Japan.

TROPICAL SOUTHEAST ASIA HIT BY DRYNESS
Rice, palm oil, sugarcane and coffee crops have received lower-than-usual rainfall in Southeast Asia, with Indonesia and Thailand the worst hit.

“Eastern parts of Indonesia and much of Thailand has had very little rain in the last 30 to 40 days,” Maxar’s Mr. Hyde said.

“In these areas, precipitation has been 50% to 70% of average. Most of September is going to be largely below normal rains in Thailand and Indonesia.”

In the United States, corn and soybean crops have suffered in recent weeks due to dryness, although the weather is not associated with El Niño, said Drew Lerner, president of World Weather, Inc.

From November to February, however, US farms will see a bigger impact from El Niño with above-average precipitation in southern states, benefiting winter wheat, Mr. Lerner said.

South American weather is expected to be crop-friendly for soybeans and corn which will be harvested early 2024. — Reuters

IMF says $650-B reserve boost helped global economy, urges caution on future allocation

August 30, 2023 | 2:04 pm

IMF — A participant stands near a logo of the International Monetary Fund at the annual meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Oct. 12, 2018. — REUTERS/JOHANNES P. CHRISTO/FILE PHOTO

WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday said its August 2021 allocation of $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights helped countries cope with the COVID pandemic and averted worse outcomes, but cautioned against rushing into future allocations.

“While an SDR allocation is a very useful and important mechanism to build confidence and strengthen global economic and financial resilience, it is not a silver bullet,” the heads of the IMF’s finance and strategy departments wrote in a new blog released alongside a full report on the issue.

Finance director Bernard Lauwers and strategy chief Ceyla Pazarbasioglu said members should carefully evaluate any future moves to issue more SDRs given the current environment of higher interest rates and inflation.

“With close to $1 trillion in SDRs allocated to date, the international community has a collective responsibility to evaluate carefully any future decisions to issue SDRs and ensure transparency in the use of such global reserve assets,” they said.

“At the current juncture, members need to take into account the environment of higher interest and inflation rates, which is making the use of SDRs more costly.”

The $650 billion SDR allocation was the IMF’s largest ever. The 45-page report concluded it was generally beneficial, helped meet the long-term global need for reserves and supported market confidence.

It said the allocation of new unconditional reserve assets benefited all IMF members, especially low-income countries, whose reserves were bolstered by 23% on average and by up to 40% for some sub-Saharan African countries.

Twenty-nine members had pledged a total of $103.4 billion in SDRs to two IMF trusts benefiting vulnerable low- and middle-income countries, the report found, although it said more efforts were needed to turn pledges into actual contributions, and close remaining fundraising gaps.

“This is critical to adequately resource the global financial safety net and support vulnerable countries facing multiple shocks and challenging transitions,” they said.

The blog said countries generally used the emergency reserves to boost reserve buffers, lowering borrowing costs, while a number of emerging market economies and low-income countries also use them to finance pressing fiscal needs.

The report showed that governments generally pursued what the IMF called “responsible policies” and saved SDRs to protect against future shocks, with only some emerging markets and developing countries delaying adjustments and reforms. — Reuters

Fossil fuels’ share in EU power mix at lowest level since records began —report

August 30, 2023 | 2:02 pm

BRUSSELS — Fossil fuels produced just 33% of the EU’s power in the first half of this year, the lowest share on record based on data going back to 1990, researchers said on Wednesday.

The main reason was lower electricity demand, which meant rising renewable energy output could meet a bigger proportion of electricity demand, the think tank Ember said.

Mild weather, consumption-cutting policies and high gas and power prices, in the wake of Russia slashing gas deliveries to Europe last year, have encouraged industries and consumers to curb energy use.

EU power demand in January-June was 4.6% lower than the same period in 2022 and the 33% generated by fossil fuels was down from 38% in the same period a year earlier.

Across the EU’s 27 member countries, fossil fuel-based power generation fell by 17% in the first half of the year, compared with the first half of 2022, Ember said. Coal, the most CO2-emitting fossil fuel, posted the steepest decline.

In May, coal produced less than 10% of EU electricity for the first time on record.

The drop in gas-fueled power generation was less steep, as EU countries replaced Russian gas with alternatives.

Clean energy generation increased as countries continue to install wind farms and solar panels. However, while wind and solar produced 23TWh more power in January-June 2023, compared with the same period last year, Ember said action to integrate more renewables into power grids was urgently needed.

In countries including Spain and Poland, solar power has at times been cut off to avoid overwhelming power grids or because it is cheaper to cut off solar power than switch off fossil fuel power plants.

“There are hot-spots of grid congestion and renewables curtailment,” Ember analyst Chris Rosslowe said.

“One really quick thing that could be done is accelerating the deployment of storage on the grid. Battery storage projects can be constructed very quickly,” he said.

Hydropower generation in January-June recovered compared with last year’s drought-driven lows, while nuclear output was slightly lower year on year. — Reuters

UK home sales on course to fall to lowest since 2012: Zoopla

August 30, 2023 | 1:58 pm

LONDON — The number of house purchases in Britain this year is on course to drop by 21% to its lowest since 2012 as a result of rising borrowing costs, property website Zoopla forecast on Wednesday.

Zoopla forecast there would be 1.0 million residential housing sales this year, down from 1.26 million last year and a 14-year high of 1.48 million in 2021, when ultra-low interest rates and pandemic tax incentives boosted demand.

“While UK house prices are 0.1% higher over the year, it is the number of sales that have been hit hardest by higher borrowing costs, especially amongst mortgage-reliant buyers,” Zoopla’s executive director, Richard Donnell, said.

Zoopla forecast that house purchases funded by mortgages would drop 28% this year, while cash buyers would fall just 1% and account for more than a third of sales.

The most recent official data showed that there were 22% fewer house purchases in the three months to the end of June than a year earlier.

Average house prices in May were down 2% from their peak last September, but were still more than 20% higher than before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when cheap finance and demand for more spacious homes drove a surge in prices in many Western countries.

Since December 2021, the BoE has raised interest rates 14 times to 5.25% – their highest since 2008 – from 0.1% in a bid to tackle rampant inflation, and markets expect two further rate rises to 5.75% this year.

The BoE is due to release July mortgage lending data at 0830 GMT.

Zoopla provides property valuations and also advertises more than 1 million properties for sale or to rent. — Reuters

X will allow political ads from candidates, parties ahead of US election

August 30, 2023 | 1:56 pm

X, the social media company formerly known as Twitter, said Tuesday it would now allow political advertising in the U.S. from candidates and political parties and expand its safety and elections team ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Before billionaire Elon Musk acquired the company in October, Twitter had banned all political ads globally since 2019.

In January, Twitter lifted the ban and began allowing “cause-based ads” in the U.S. that raise awareness of issues such as voter registration, and said it planned to expand the types of political ads it would allow on the platform.

The move to allow all political ads in the U.S. could help X grow its revenue at a time when many advertisers have fled or reduced spending on the platform for fear of appearing next to inappropriate content.

In a blog post on Tuesday, X said it would grow its teams to combat content manipulation and “emerging threats”.

The company said it would create a global advertising transparency center, which would let users see what political ads were being promoted on X, and added it would continue to prohibit political ads that spread false information or seek to undermine public confidence in an election.

The platform, like other social media companies, has long been criticized by researchers and lawmakers for not doing enough to prevent misleading or false content during major elections.

Since Musk’s acquisition, X in particular has faced questions about its readiness for the U.S. presidential election after laying off thousands of employees, including those who had worked on the trust and safety team. — Reuters